Win Streak May Continue For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, accelerating almost 1,200 points or 4.3 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 27,620-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses re tipped to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the plastics, weakness from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index added 71.95 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 27,626.48 after trading between 27,566.12 and 27,796.90.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial tanked 2.43 percent, while Mega Financial retreated 1.11 percent, CTBC Financial declined 1.25 percent, First Financial dropped 0.90 percent, Fubon Financial sank 1.38 percent, E Sun Financial eased 0.16 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.35 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.33 percent, Hon Hai Precision stumbled 2.38 percent, Catcher Technology fell 0.25 percent, MediaTek soared 4.10 percent, Delta Electronics slumped 1.06 percent, Novatek Microelectronics skidded 1.02 percent, Formosa Plastics rose 0.24 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 4.98 percent, Asia Cement dipped 0.13 percent and Largan Precision was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day for a fifth straight session.

The Dow jumped 289.30 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 47,716.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 151.00 points or 0.65 percent to end at 23,365.69 and the S&P 500 climbed 36.48 points or 0.54 percent to close at 6,849.09.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ spiked 4.9 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 3.7 percent and the Dow climbed 3.2 percent.

Renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates has contributed to the recent rebound following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 86.9 percent chance the central bank will cut rates by another quarter point at its December meeting.

Trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as some traders remained away from their desks following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Friday a proposed peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war remains in limbo. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.18 or 0.31 percent at $58.83 per barrel.